Vehicle head lamp



Jan. 11, 1938. w HONlNG I 2,105,419

VEHICLE HEAD LAMP Filed NOV. 20, 1934 f .a/ H H 6 W M [ZVT/"ENTUR I YiL HE'LM HUNINE' H w 649W Him? '2' TURNS? 3 Jan. ll, 13%

T? FEW Wilhelm Honing, Eindhoven, Netherlands, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application November 20, 1934, Serial No. 753,8!3 In Germany December 22, 1933 4 Claims.

My invention relates to vehicle headlamps and more particularly to an incandescent electric lamp for use therein having a novel filament arrangement for producing a desired ligh't distribu- 5 tion.

v One of the objects of my invention is to provide a filament arrangement in a headlamp whereby a driving beam is produced having a hot spot of light of high intensity and of uniform shape 10 and comparatively large depth, while the beam for use when approaching an oncoming vehicle is of comparatively wide lateral spread.

According to my invention the above object is attained by employing a pair of filaments in the lamp arranged in substantially the shape of a T with the filament constituting the vertical leg of the T arranged in a vertical plane which preferably passes through the focal point of the refiector. The said vertical filament is used to 20 produce the driving beam and the horizontal filament is used to produce the meeting beam. Further features and advantages of my invention will appear from the following detailed description of species thereof. 25 In the drawing; Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an incandescent lamp with a filament arrangement according to my invention; Fig. 2 is'a front view thereof; Fig. 3 is a d agrammatic showing of a section of a driving beam produced by the 30 lamp; and Fig. 4 is a similar showing of a meeting beam.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the lamp comprises a base l and a bulb ll having a pair of filaments I 2, I3 sealed therein. The said filaments 35 l2, l3 are in the form of helical coils having linear or straight-line axes, the filament ll being'preferably located in a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the lamp with said filament disposed perpendicular to said axis, while 40 the filament [3 extends transversely of said axis and at right angles to filament II. In other words, the said filaments l2, I3 are arranged in substantially the shape of a T located in a plane extending transversely of, or perpendicular to,

4 the lamp axis. Where standard bayonet pins I4,

III are employed, they may be located on the base It! in the same plane as the filament l2.

The filament i2 is secured at one end to a lead wire l5 and at its opposite end to a common lead A 50 wire 16. Thefilament I3 is secured at one end to the common lead wire IS and at its opposite end to a lead wire 11. Portions of said leads l5, l6, I! are sealed in the press portion l8 of a stem tube l9, the said leads extending to respec- 55 tive terminals or contacts in the base I so that the filaments l2, [3 have separate circuit connections and may be independently energized.

- The lamp is preferably mounted in the usual paraboloidal reflector of a headlamp so that the filament l2 extends through the focal point of 5 the reflector in a vertical plane, and the filament I3 is in a horizontal plane. This filament arrangement in a headlamp employing a standard form of lens having vertical flutes across the middle and horizontal prisms at the top and bot- 10 tom provides, with the vertical filament It, a driving bea'm having a cross section in a vertical plane substantially as shown at 20 in Fig. 3. The said beam has a hot spot 2! of high intensity and relatively large depth at the middle of the beam, thereby providing a maximum of light straight down the roadway where it is most desirable. The horizontal filament l3 provides a beam having a cross-section in a vertical plane substantially as shown at 22 in Fig. 4

where the line H-H represents the horizontal plane. The said beam 22 has a very desirable wide lateral spread and affords a good meeting beam.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by 25 Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An electric incandescent lamp for vehicle headlamps comprising a bulb containing a pair of filaments with separate circuit connections, said filaments being straight linear filaments and being arranged substantially in the form of a T located in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the lamp.

2. An electric incandescent lamp for vehicle headlamps comprising a bulb containing a pair of filaments with separate circuit connections, said filaments being straight linear filaments and being arranged substantially in the form of a T located in a plane perpendicular to the longitu dinal axis of the lamp, the vertical leg of. said T being located substantially in a plane extending through the said longitudinal axis of the lamp.

3. An electric incandescent lamp for vehicle headlamps comprising a bulb adapted to be mounted with its axis horizontal, a stem extend- 4.; ing into said bulb axially thereof, three lead wires extending through said stem and projecting forwardly thereof one above the other, the middle lead wire'having a laterally extending portion located directly above the end of the lower lead wire and a short end portion extending vertically upward and located on the opposite side of the bulb axis from the end of the upper lead wire, the ends of said lead wires and the laterally extending portion of said middle lead wire being located in a plane perpendicular to the bulb axis.

. a filament connected at one end to the end of 'ment connected at each end to an end of said middle an upper lead wires and forming with said first-mentioned filament a T located in a plane perpendicular to the bulb axis, and-circuit connections for energizing said filaments separately.

, 4. An electric incandescent lamp for vehicle headlamps comprising a bulb adapted to bemounted with its axis horizontal, a stem extendin: into said bulb axially thereof, three lead ing forwardly thereof one above the other, the

the said laterally extending portion of said middle lead wire, and a second horizontally disposed filament connected at each end to an end of said middle and upper lead wires and forming with said first-mentioned filament a T located in a plane perpendicular to the bulb axis, and circuit connections for energizing said filaments sepwires extending through said stem and projectarately.

WlLHEL-M HONING. 

